SantaFeToday.com Santa Fe’s Hometown News
By City of Santa Fe
After nearly 20 years featuring classic, independent, and world cinema, The Screen—the single-screen independent theater on the campus of the Santa Fe University of Art & Design (SFUAD)—closed its doors April 30, and Santa Fe’s cinema lovers mourned. Now an innovative new partnership between the City of Santa Fe and the Center for Contemporary Arts (CCA) is bringing The Screen back to life.
“The CCA presents The Screen” will save this Santa Fe treasure and offer community programming that expands The Screen’s appeal to all Santa Feans. Programming will feature regular partnerships with other organizations, schools, and the City, with a specific focus on reaching out to the Midtown and Southside neighborhoods in which the majority of Santa Fe’s working families live.
Through this partnership, the CCA will incorporate The Screen into its acclaimed film program, The Cinematheque. The CCA will create new community-oriented events and programs at The Screen, and shift many of its educational programs, including its Youth Partners Program–which has served more than 5,500 Santa Fe Public School students, to the site. The close proximity of Santa Fe High, Early College Opportunities High School, the new Milagro Middle School, and Nava Elementary School will allow the CCA to expand the reach of this effective and popular program.
Adding the Screen expands the CCA’s ability to increase access to independent, world, and classic cinema and its successful community-based and educational programs. The CCA’s community-oriented program has been an essential component of New Mexico’s arts and culture fabric since its foundation in 1979. Programming at The Screen will begin on Friday, July 13 with the documentaries STRANGERS ON EARTH and THREE IDENTICAL STRANGERS, a restored version of YELLOW SUBMARINE and free family screenings of short films by Pixar.
Within the first week of programming, The Screen will play host to one of Mayor Alan Webber’s signature initiatives, the Southside Summer, when it presents a free outdoor “Take Your Grandparents to the Movies” screening of WILLY WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY on July 14th.
The revival of The Screen also signals a strong future for the former university campus. This use fits perfectly with the goals outlined by the public input process, including support for the film industry, support for education, and support for resources available and accessible to the entire community.
“The Midtown Campus offers a unique opportunity, in the heart of Santa Fe, to bring people together and celebrate what makes our community so special. The Screen has always been a big part of that, and we’re excited we can join CCA to make sure that legacy continues,” said Mayor Alan Webber.
“We’re honored to partner with the City to re-open The Screen,” said Stuart Ashman, CCA’s Executive Director. “CCA is one of the oldest contemporary arts organizations in the American Southwest and our mission is to serve the community by bring programming that is socially relevant. The new venue will allow us to expand our community outreach into the Midtown neighborhoods and continue to bring extraordinary films to new audiences.”
“The CCA Board enthusiastically supports and is excited about this opportunity to expand our mission to serve the community and be a vital part of the renaissance of the campus,” said CCA Board Chairman G. Sterling Zinsmeyer.
The Screen founder and former director Brent Kliewer will be honored as Curator Emeritus. In this role he will bring his experience and knowledge to an advisory role in programming. Former Screen manager Charlotte Martinez has joined the CCA staff and will serve as the Cinematheque’s Manager of Community Engagement and continue to manage operations at The Screen.
The public can find ongoing information about programming taking place at The Screen atwww.ccasantafe.org.
